Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[LindaB220]

Hey, Bee, good to see this thread back in action. I just bought the Sunbeam heating pad so I can make the coop brooder when the time comes. I'm really looking forward to the coming year. Getting the knee replaced in March will slow me down a bit, but I still have plenty of time to get some good raising in. ha.

 

[Beekissed]

Yes, you do and they say the late hatches do better anyway, so that's a thing to look forward to, isn't it?

I'll be using the heating pad for a brooder also if I have no broody...it was just too successful last time not to use it and it even worked well for them as they transitioned to coop life...gave them a place to hide and get warm at the same time.

 

[LindaB220]

Quote:
Woohoo Bee!!! Just went out to the coop and found my first Blosl egg. Yea!! I have her with the Coronation Sussex and 2 blue egg layers and all those have started. Still waiting on the other coop of the XW trio. No eggs yet. But I'm hoping. Just eating for right now ( and isn't that killing me!!) but they'll be ready when I am.

 

[Beekissed]

Good for you, Miss LindaB!!! I'm hoping your XW birds are a marvel at laying and produce a line you want to keep going with. They are pretty birds, aren't they? Lay a good, big egg also.

I'm ditching the XW genes, I'm thinking, as my one girl isn't too good of a winter layer(read no eggs since October and molted hugely all winter long, after her summer molt and her after brooding molt) and stopped twice during the spring and summer to brood, which actually earns her a spot in the flock for use as a broody but not as a breeder.

 

[TexasLisa]

We have the clay soils here as well, which is why I'm going to try the Back to Eden gardening in order to change the nature of these soils permanently. I've tried many different amendments and the clay just eats them like candy and never changes. You should watch that film if you think WE have bad soils...that guy's soils were even worse! Hard as a rock with clay.

Here's a link to the site where you can view that film...that will give you something to do while you work that hand!

http://www.backtoedenfilm.com/ I'm going to do it differently than all the other folks are doing....more like this guy did, as he used the wood chips on already plowed ground that had no sod on it. Supposed to do it the fall before you plant but I don't have that luxury, so will just plow as per usual this spring and place the wood chips on top of the plowed ground. Just think...no more hoeing if you use this method, just using the rake every now and again.

Are you using castor oil on that knee?

Sounds like your chickens are going like gangbusters! How old is this flock? What breeds do you have? My pullets haven't come into lay yet and my oldsters are abdicating right now except for the BA and every now and again one of the RSL.

I have heard you talking about the 'Back to Eden' method. I will have to watch the film to see what you are talking about.

I am using Vitamin E on the knee and hand. Got to get that new skin limber.

My flock will be a year old in March. Lena is around 4 1/2 years old (last of the original flock). I have 4 Australorps, 3 Speckled Sussexs, and 3 Ameracaunas. My rooster is Ameracauna. I am getting blue, brown, and creamy white eggs.

Hey, Bee, good to see this thread back in action. I just bought the Sunbeam heating pad so I can make the coop brooder when the time comes. I'm really looking forward to the coming year. Getting the knee replaced in March will slow me down a bit, but I still have plenty of time to get some good raising in. ha.

Linda, you will be in my prayers for your knee surgery. Will this be a full or partial replacement? My brother just had a partial knee replacement.

Lisa

 

[Cowpoke]

Hello Bee,

I'm glad you woke this thread up again. Yes it would be neat to see all 3 methods gong at the same time. I will be standing by to read about the 2 and/or possibly 3 methods. I'm glad to read that you are doing well!

I will not be hatching any this year. I have too many now, needing to cull. 6 original Doms, 2 newly laying Dom pullets, 3 Dom Roos,
2 Light Sussex hens and 2 LS Roos.

I'm looking forward to seeing how your hatches go.

Take Care!

 

[Beekissed]

Hello Bee,

I'm glad you woke this thread up again. Yes it would be neat to see all 3 methods gong at the same time. I will be standing by to read about the 2 and/or possibly 3 methods. I'm glad to read that you are doing well!

I will not be hatching any this year. I have too many now, needing to cull. 6 original Doms, 2 newly laying Dom pullets, 3 Dom Roos,
2 Light Sussex hens and 2 LS Roos.

I'm looking forward to seeing how your hatches go.

Take Care!

Hey!!!

I missed you!! Where ya been so long? I'm doing some culling this spring too, though my flock be little. I've got a 6 yr old hen that has been a fantastic layer all her life but she's got arthritis in her ankles now and needs some mercy. I'm going to miss her as she is the last of the Gnarly Bunch left standing. I'll also cull an extra roo and possibly a couple of RSL ex-battery hens I saved back from a meat pen this fall, just to give a couple of warm bodies for the coop this winter.

I hope to hatch all I can from three pullets when they come into lay this spring....I really need more layers and I want to improve a "line" I'm starting with the use of a heirloom WR male.

Good to see you again, Cowpoke!

 

[Cowpoke]

Good to see you again Bee! And Good luck with your Hatching!

 

[1zooman12]

Hello Beekissed,
You will probably experience hit or miss results far inferior to that experienced by a dedicated broody hen. We use the X and O marking system to keep track of how much an egg is turned. The hen has no use for that as she is almost constantly turning her eggs and keeping track would be ridicules even if she could. By turning only twice a day a marking system is necessary to compensate for the lack of serial turning. Indeed, turning twice a day is insufficient; turning at 6 hours intervals will likely improve your hatch greatly. But then you would be leaving the nest much more often than the hen so your turnings will have to be quickly executed lest there be a drying of the nest and an unwarranted chilling of the clutch. I think that you will surmise that leaving the job to an experienced hen will out perform anything we mortals, sans feathers, could possibly achieve. At any rate, I wish you well in your research and think that you will finally reach the conclusion of deciding to let the hen do it all. Please keep us posted as this is an interesting exercise, to say the least! This brings back memories of an ancient (1949?) stunt on Truth or Consequences radio. The contestant was given an egg and was instructed to sit on the egg himself the prize being of some exorbitant value should he succeed. There may have even been the involvement of a hot water bottle; on that I'm not clear. At any rate, all he got for his trouble was a spoiled egg which of course did not stand a chance of hatching. The contestant did receive a lesser prize of some sort.
Sincerely,
Neal, the Zooman

 

[Beekissed]

Neal, if you could have read the whole thread you would have found I was turning 3 times a day on the final nests and had a respectable hatch or two at the end, so even though it's not as good as a broody hen, when one does not have one it's almost as good. Actually, my hatches near the end were as good or better than those using regular incubators with egg turners, so I'm not too displeased with the results. The natural nest box maintained good humidity and I found, finally, that I didn't need to add any moisture at the end as the chicks added their own and none was lost in checking the hatchlings.

If you'll peruse the thread gallery of pics you'll see the chicks hatched. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the success of the experiment and it proved to be just as effective~but far less fiddly~than homemade incubators that other people are using....and not a bit like a man sitting on an egg and getting a spoiled egg in the end.